Sweden

Abstract

In this chapter the experiences of the Swedish Foreign Ministry in dealing with the administrative and political-strategic changes resulting from its new and formalised West European involvement will be analysed. The Ministry’s adaptations of institutions, policies and strategies undertaken in the face of the revitalised European integration phase of the late 1980s and early 1990s will be briefly outlined. Secondly, the demands of the full membership from 1 January 1995 on material and human resources for coordination at home, and on participation in myriad intensive European collaboration networks across multiple sectors will be traced. Constitutional issues, administrative structures, policy processes, the prevailing logic of appropriate procedures and foreign policy strategies have been greatly affected by the new and demanding requirements of EU membership.

Keywords

Migration Europe Arena Exter

The authors are grateful to Camilla Norström, Research Assistant at the Swedish Institute of International Affairs, Stockholm.

Ekengren, M. The Time of Europe — On the Temporal Logic of European Governance and How It Affects National Policymakers and Institutions (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2001)Google Scholar

Ekengren, M. and Sundelius, B. ‘The State Joins the European Union’, in Hanf, K. and Soetendorp, B. (eds), Adapting to European Integration — Small States and the European Union (Harlow: Addison Wesley Longman, 1997)Google Scholar